Hostages held at Burkina Faso hotel

The couple, Ken and Jocelyn Elliott, were kidnapped in Baraboule near Burkina Faso's border with Mali on Saturday, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore told AFP. The couple's family said in a statement last night that their whereabouts were unknown.

"Recent news from the country indicates an alleged abduction of Ken and Jocelyn on Friday night, however no reason is yet given for this and their whereabouts is still unknown," the family statement said. "They are held in high esteem by the local people. Their commitment to the local people is reflected in the fact that they have continued there with only a few holidays since 1972."

A rescued woman sits in a vehicle with bullet hole in its windshield near the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou. Photo: AP

Patients come from Burkina, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Mali to the donation-based hospital.

Prior to establishing the centre, Dr Elliott worked for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Fremantle Hospital.

A spokesman for Malian militant group Ansar Dine, Hamadou Ag Khallini, told AFP that the couple were being held by jihadists from the al-Qaeda-linked "Emirate of the Sahara," who operate in northern Mali.

A European intelligence source told AFP the group's plan was to take the couple over the border into Mali.

The couple had previously been mistakenly identified as Austrian by Burkina Faso's interior ministry.

On Sunday supporters of the missionaries had begun posting prayers on social media.

"Today we ask you to please pray for the [doctor] and his wife, which [sic] were abducted in Djibo - Burkina Faso," wrote Osvaldo Menedez on the surgeon's Facebook fan page.

"What are these kidnappers thinking?!" wrote another supporter, Abdoulaye Dicko. "[The doctor] is not a tourist but a saviour of life and that of the poor."